Choices from a Dark Past: Part II
by pirate88
Summary: Join Mady, Ben, Lakaar, Axol, and Jared as they embark on another journey to quash their dark side adversaries once and for all.  Along the way there will be many decisions to make and they all could change the face of the galaxy...forever.
1. Old Habits, New Enemies

**What's up, FicFans? Pirate here! I had a fan suggest this way back when I finished the last one and I find myself these days thinking about it a lot. I sat down last night and began a new adventure for the characters of "Choices from a Dark Past." Now for those of you who read the first installment, you will know that there were two endings...one light, one dark. If you haven't read them, there is a serious spoiler coming up so I suggest you go read at least the last two chapters of CFADP. Are they gone? Alright, cool. As I was saying it wouldn't do me much good if I had killed off my main character so if you accepted the dark side ending as canon, this story won't make much sense. In my mind, the light side ending is usually the best and so we are going to assume that the light ending was how it ended.**

**For those who are new to this series, here's how this will work. At the end of each chapter, one of the main characters will be left with a choice. I don't think past the end of these chapters so the choice is yours. Leave a review and tell me what should happen next and that's quite simply what will happen. **

**Good luck to you all and without any more of my blathering on please enjoy "Choices from a Dark Past: Part II".**

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><p>The cloaked figure crouched on the roof of the enclave where no one would see. Normally this was not the routine but the unusual events that had happened as of late had forced this awkward situation upon them all. The eyes beneath the dark hood darted back and forth ever-vigilantly scanning the landscape for intruders. There had been many these past months and all had the same primary objective. Kill this new Jedi master and quell the uprising of this new Jedi order. The figure that hunched on the roof had only the objective of protecting said Order…and particularly its new master. Oftentimes there was nothing but boredom to be found on this roof. Nothing but the chirps of bugs and birds filled the sky with sounds on nights like this and nothing but darkness met anyone's eyes. Still, it was worth it to be here…just in case.<p>

The eyes beneath the hood widened slightly and snapped to a particular point on the horizon. A sharp red beam that appeared stationary shone in the distance and the cloaked protector knew there was only one thing it could be. The cobalt blade shot from its hilt as the knees straightened standing the figure upright. A gust of wind caught the cloak and hood both and revealed her as she was today.

Madylyn Katarn stood on that roof and glared down at the intruder that dared show himself so boldly on the edge of her sight. Sometimes, merely seeing the dark guardian there looming over the enclave was enough to send the Sith running. This one was stickier though. He just stood there, as confident as she was…seeming to be begging for a fight. However, in the midst of this deadlock something happened that made her stomach flip.

Suddenly, from somewhere underneath her a yellow lightsaber sprinted wildly at the invader. The eyes widened once more as she cursed to herself. Teeth bared, she leapt off the roof and began running at the Sith trespasser herself, hoping now that the both of them attacking would scare him off and protect this brave, yet foolish Jedi in front of her. Luckily, her instinct appeared to be right. The shadowy being with the red lightsaber fled through the valleys and shallow canyons of Dantooine. For a long time the Jedi chased him and after a while they both knew the job was done.

"Yeah! Keep going, Sith coward! I dare you to show your face around here again, nerfherder! See what happens!" said the young Jedi in front of her. She scoffed and pulled her hood up. The braid he had hanging off the side of his head told her that he was a Padawan and the fact that he had run all this way without noticing her told her that he was quite young and easily distracted.

"Padawan! What are you doing our here?" she asked, startling him slightly. He whirled around and she realized just how young he was. He couldn't have been any older than fourteen and the shock in his eyes showed this blatantly.

"Master, I-I was…wait, you're not a Master. Who are you?" he asked.

"Someone who just asked a good question. Also someone who is still waiting for an answer!" she said, demanding a response from him.

"I…I was on guard duty." He said, unsure of why he was explaining himself to this stranger.

"They don't put Padawans on guard duty. Especially not lately. And even if you were, you chased that Sith _way_ too deep into the restricted area!" she scolded. He stared at his shoes, no longer having the courage to respond to this phantom.

"You saw that Sith out your window and wanted to see if you had the right stuff to beat him, right?" she asked. He only nodded. She sighed. She couldn't be mad at the boy. In him, she saw herself at that age quite clearly and even still in her adult life. The only difference between them was that knighthood and her KIA status gave her permission to do such things. As a Padawan this was something that he did not yet have, nor should. He was young and foolish enough to run headlong into a trap, and he had proven said fact just now.

"Do you understand how dangerous things are right now?" she asked. He nodded. She looked at him once more and saw that he was remorseful. Genuinely so. She couldn't scold him further.

"Alright, run back to the enclave now and you and I can keep this between us. Just promise me you'll never do this again. You could have run right into a—" she was cut off, by the unmistakable snap-hiss all around her accompanied by six glowing red beams.

"What was that, Jedi?" one of the villains asked. Mady smiled an arrogant smile.

"A trap." She finished, pointedly not igniting her lightsaber though the trembling Padawan's back pressed against hers.

"Right. And you were saying something about…what was it? Oh yes…walking right into one?" he mocked. The sound of laughter echoed all around them. It faded, though, when she started laughing, too.

"Yeah, that's pretty funny. You guys really surprised us! Although, I'm not really sure why since you all are too spineless to even take on this kid one on one." She said. The remaining chuckles ended like they had hit a brick wall.

"I was prepared to make your deaths painless, Jedi, but now I should think you've squandered such a privilege." He said. Behind her, the boy was jabbering quietly to himself, nearly frozen now with fear. She was used to taking on such tasks by herself and now that there was another to watch out for, she fought her old habits.

"I assume your goal tonight wasn't to kill a teenage Padawan who is back there pissing his pants right now." She said.

"Our goal was to kill Jedi. Two in one night makes a handsome report to hand our superiors." He said.

"But this little one is hardly worth your effort. I mean, you never know what might happen. Sure, you'll run him through…that's a given. But, what if I jump behind you while that's going on? I'd be willing to bet you'd all be a man or two short tomorrow. So, let the kid go. That way you can have a sure bet…and your boss never needs to know that there were two." Mady tried. She heard the kid behind her begin to strain and finally thud to the ground unconscious after some twisted Sith power overcame him.

"Or we could take you in alive and make you watch while we kill him." The Sith suggested.

"Wrong answer." Mady said, locking her lightsaber into fighting stance. She lunged at him slashing and stabbing in quick and furious motions. With a final stab he was dispatched and the two that sprinted up behind her quickly met the same fate. Only three left. She switched the grip of her lightsaber to reverse to confuse the Sith which, not too surprisingly, worked. She advanced on him and slashed back and forth until finally he stumbled over backwards and met a skewering downward stab once he was on his back. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the second to last Sith towering over the unconscious boy, not prepared to let the night be a total loss. With an outstretched hand, she shoved him to the wall of a nearby jut in the landscape and walked towards him. Having lost his lightsaber the Sith seemed frozen with fear as the hooded Jedi protector walked quickly toward him, twirling the blue blade as she neared. His breaths hastened as he knew his seconds were becoming few.

"No! Please! NOOO—" he began, but would never finish. The words seemed to halt abruptly as she drove her lightsaber through his stomach once…then several more times for good measure. Her head then snapped over to the only remaining Sith who had taken his knees in front of her.

"I-I don't want to die." He said, meekly.

"Good, because I need a message delivered." She said. He stared up at her fear flooding from his very pores.

"You tell your master about what happened here tonight and you tell him that if any more of you Sith pieces of bantha shit come around here, they'll get ten times worse than this. Understand?" she said. He nodded quickly, eyes still the size of dinner plates.

"Then get the hell out of here." She ordered. He sprinted off into the night without so much as another word. Her glare softened as she glanced back at the shadowed pile of boy lying helpless on the ground. She walked over to him and knelt at his side tapping him lightly on the cheek.

"Come on, kid. Wake up!" she said. It was no use. He was alive, but there would be no waking him from this injury.

"Shit." She cussed, under her breath. She readjusted her stance and moved to lift him, but was suddenly stuck by a crippling pain in her side. Apparently these Sith had not been quite as incompetent as she had thought. Her feet seemed to fall out from under her as the pain nearly rendered her as comatose as the crumpled boy beneath her. Without even realizing she had done it her hands had flown to the injured spot. She moved them slowly to find that they were covered in blood. A low groan escaped her as she tried overcome the deep and awful ache. Somehow, she had to get that kid back to the enclave or she knew the consequences for him would be dire indeed. However, each new breath brought a fresh pain that she knew would be daunting to defeat. As if her weakness gave him strength, the first Sith who had not quite been killed, spoke to her in threatening tones.

"These attacks won't stop. They won't ever stop, kath bitch." He gurgled. Her eyes flashed her anger as she crawled over to him, gathering up her lightsaber as she went. Another pain forced her to stop moving and collect herself even as the scoundrel taunted her.

"Your world will burn and there is nothing you can do about it." He continued. She glared at him but was unable at that moment to do more than that.

"And your new Master…Katarn. He'll be made an example of when we get a hold of him. I'm sure our Master will enjoy breaking him!" he taunted. At that moment, Mady found the strength to finish the crawl to him and with an angry scream she rammed her lightsaber down into his chest. She could feel tears forming in her eyes. Somehow, she knew that what the man had said was true about the attacks. They would never stop. They would be fighting and running and struggling for the rest of their lives…and that was going to have to be something that she accepted.

No time for tears though. Not yet. This kid needed a doctor. She found the strength to find her feet and walked gingerly over to him. She lifted his arm and screamed as she hoisted him over her shoulders.

Each step felt like being stabbed and now tears finally fell. She couldn't help it. The agony was simply too much to bear. Still, though she walked knowing that she simply needed to get this poor brave kid back to the enclave.

After about an hour, she had finally made it back and luckily for her, by this time almost no one in the enclave was awake. The only ones would be the night watchmen. Luckily for her, they were on their toes this night.

"Master Katarn! Please, come in! Over!" the knight urgently communicated.

"Ungh. What is it, Knight? I just fell asleep. Over." Ben replied groggily.

"I'm sorry, Master, but the Dark Guardian is back. She appears to have an injured knight with her." He said. Ben sat up in bed and swung his legs over the edge. Hurriedly, he pulled on a tunic though he already had his pants on.

"I'll be right there." He said, beginning to realize the urgency.

The watchmen knights made it onto the front pavilion quickly enough to see her gently lay the body on the metal slab that was the entryway. Breathing deep yet faltering breaths, she took a few slow steps back away from the body so none of them would get so close as to discover the unthinkable. They rushed to the form of the young Padawan and one began to check his vitals. The other only stared at her. Not all of the knights in the enclave fully trusted this darkly clad being that lurked about in the dark like a mynock. Though their master told them that the warrior could be trusted, they couldn't help but be slightly wary of her and slightly perturbed when she stood and stared and didn't say a word.

"Is he alright?" Ben asked as he rushed to the side of the young Padawan.

"He'll be fine. Something busted him up on the inside, but he'll recover." The crouched knight said, looking at the guardian. She did nothing in response. It was all she could do to remain conscious.

"Knights, take him inside and attend to him. When he recovers bring him to me. I want to have a talk with him about going out after dark." Ben said, in his best disciplinarian voice. He was still developing this voice and it was certainly a work in progress. The knights carried the boy back inside the enclave and the doors slid shut behind them. Now that they were alone, Mady fell to one knee and he rushed to her side.

"Sweet Force, what happened?" he asked.

"The frackin' Sith happened." She groaned. He guided her to the slab and began to examine the wound more closely.

"Force, this is pretty deep." Ben noticed.

"No…shit." She strained, followed by a painful sounding laugh. Suddenly and startlingly to them both another figure came running out of the front of the enclave. She quickly hid her face, but would realize in the next moment that there was no need.

"I saw the knights carrying a padawan inside and—oh Sith spit! Kid, are you alright?" Axol said kneeling at her side along with Ben.

"I think…I…I…think…" she said, beginning to lose consciousness once more. As the men looked down at her and her wound which still issued torrents of blood, they realized why.

"We need to get her inside." Ben said. Axol nodded and pulled a communicator from his belt.

"Lakaar, come in. We need to get Mady inside. She's hurt." He said.

"On my way." Lakaar growled back and in no more than a minute the giant creature emerged from the front doors and flung his little sister over his shoulder.

The enclaves new doctor was one of the few entrusted with the secret of her existence. They hadn't wanted anyone else to know about her in the beginning, but every so often there would be a wound that was too much for them to handle alone. On a night like tonight, they had no choice, but to see a real doctor. He was a tall and clean-cut man right around Axol's age. Being a Jedi, they trusted him and being a doctor, they needed him. His name was Wendell Pak and he had become a true friend to them all.

"Doc, we need you in Master Katarn's private quarters right away!" Axol commed.

"What's wrong? I'm just patching up this Padawan you all sent in." he said.

"Is he well enough to make it through the night?" Axol asked.

"He will." Said Wendell.

"Well I have another up here in Master Katarn's quarters who I am not so sure about." Axol replied. Knowing full well what this meant, the doctor packed up his bag and made his way to the room of his Jedi Master. When he got there, he was shocked at the amount of blood there was. The wound was so open now that even trying to put pressure on it made matters worse. She was long since unconscious so was no longer in pain, but still in great danger.

The doctor went right to work and stabilized her as best her could. She would need attention over the next few days and while she couldn't get it in the sickbay with everyone else, but she would get in nonetheless. She would be alright…it was only a matter of when.

"You've given up on the Jedi ideals so quickly." A voice stated plainly.

"Given up? I'm protecting the Jedi Order." She argued back into the darkness.

"Oh come now. Scaring the piss out of those Sith wasn't fun at all? It wasn't…enjoyable?" the voice pointed out.

"I am a protector of the Jedi and I enjoy ridding the galaxy of scum!" Mady argue, becoming frustrated.

"You think that with the corrupt council destroyed, the dark side will just go away, do you? You think it will just…leave you alone?" the voice said.

"No." Mady agreed.

"Then what do you think?" the voice asked.

"I think that I have defeated the dark side once. I can do it again." She said.

"The dark side? _Defeated_ the dark side? What you defeated were a useless pawn and his son! You can't even comprehend the darkness that's coming for you and your new master. When it hits you, you'll find the true power of the dark side shan't be so easily…_defeated_." The voice warned. Her eyes snapped open and saw the Master's dormitory room all around her. She rose a hand to her forehead to find that she was sweating and apparently had been for some time. The sheets of his bed clung to her body as she tried to move and as she tried to sit up, she realized that would be impossible. New pain struck her and reminded her of why she was her in the first place.

"You're awake." Ben said from his seat next to her. She groaned.

"Unfortunately." She said, wincing at the wound that still ached. "How long was I out?"

"Four days on and off. That must've been one hell of a fight." Ben said, bringing her some food and helping her sit up so she could eat it.

"It was an ambush. There were six of them, but it was dark and it was a long time ago. There might have been more." She said, taking a bite of the bantha jerky he had brought up especially for her.

"These attacks are getting worse. And why so many in such a short time? What could they want?" Ben asked himself aloud.

"You _did_ just assume power three months ago. It could be they want what the Sith always want." Mady suggested.

"And what's that?" Ben asked.

"Jedi heads." She said, chewing on one last bite of jerky. She we only half joking about that last statement. In truth, she wasn't joking at all. This was all the Sith ever wanted and as far as heads went…Ben's was very, very valuable these days.

"Whatever their reasons these attacks are getting worse and it's only a matter of time before one of them works. This one was too close for comfort." Ben said, concern for her leaking through his jokes.

"You're right." Mady agreed, seriousness bleeding in as well.

"So I figure we have a few options here. We could strike out together like the old days." He suggested.

"Or you could stay here and do your job, while I go out there by myself and do mine." Mady countered. Ben sighed.

"Are we really going to go down this road again?" he asked. Mady smiled that damn know-it-all smile that he hated and loved at the same time.

"Sure as hell looks that way." She replied.

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><p><strong>So there it is fictionites. If you know Mady, you'd know that she has usually been one to volunteer to go off by herself...and if you know Ben, you'd know that he usually doesn't want her to. But now, she seems to have duty to think about...and so does he? So what's the right choice? Go off by herself or take the old gang out with her. It's up to you now FicFreaks...don't let Mady down!<strong>


	2. The Prophecy

**Alright Ficsters. We're back. Sorry it took me so long. Been a little hectic around the cove. Anyway, when we last left Mady she was left with the choice of going off on her own or striking out with the team like the old days. What did you all choose? Well, let's just see.**

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><p>Her recovery was slow. Much slower than she would have liked anyway. For nearly a month she lay there in that bed waiting for her wound to heal. It seemed that times like this was when her pride and stubbornness hurt her the most. She would just begin to feel better and her patience would dwindle and she would try to sit or stand or something else that was just as stupid and split her wound open again. Finally though, she was prepared to begin her life again after such a reprieve.<p>

The advantage of the scenario was the fact that it had given her time to think. Of course that Sith the other night had been right. The attacks on the enclave would never stop…never. The attacks on Ben would never stop or the Jedi for the matter. She would not, however, simply sit by and let it happen. She would do what she had sworn to do the day she returned to the enclave. She would protect the Jedi and serve the Masters…but only in shadow. Forever hidden.

"So you're telling me that there is an army of Sith hunting us, we don't have any plan whatsoever, and you just want us to run headlong out into the outer rim and hope for the best?" Ben asked, hoping that this would be the time that realized how foolish such an idea was. There was a pause, but then she flashed that smirk up at him.

"Pretty much." She said, looking up from packing her small duffel bag. She hustled back and forth from Ben's dresser where everything she owned was stored back to the bed where here bag was. He just sat on the bed and watched her.

"And you don't see anything flawed in that?" Ben questioned.

"When has it ever steered me wrong?" she asked, stopping for a moment. Ben gave her a knowing raise of the eyebrows and she spoke before he got the chance to.

"On second thought, don't answer that. You'll throw off my confidence." She said, returning to her task. Ben was already packed of the trip so now he was completely free to talk to her as she packed. In reality, he didn't want anyone to go anywhere. He had thought when they took over this enclave that things would quiet down a bit…at least for a while. However, in his heart of hearts he had known that such a thing was coming. He just didn't expect it to come so soon.

"So where are we headed?" Ben asked, trying to keep his mind open.

"Not sure yet. I'm gonna sleep on it and let you know in the morning." She said, throwing the last of her items in the bag and zipping it. After that she sat on the edge of the bed between the bag and Ben. Her eyes ached as she had been awake for several hours past the point of comfort and she rubbed them as she smile wearily over at Ben.

"Why do you want to do this?" he asked. She only laughed at him.

"Come on, Ben! Where's your sense of adventure?" she asked, through the chuckle as she rolled to the other side of the bed and began to take off her boots.

"I'm serious." He said in a tone that told her he couldn't be anything but. She sighed as she began to take off her robe and outer tunic.

"I just…I have a feeling that all this stuff won't just go away on its own." She said, somberly. His gut had told him the same thing, but he was much more of a planner than Mady and he was also much more patient. Mady tended to deal with things right now just for the sake of having them over and done with. She also couldn't bear to sit around and watch or wait. Ben was much calmer and without her influence he would have been more inclined to wait this thing out to see what would happen.

"I know what you mean." Ben said, surrendering to his wife. Her will had always been able to win out over his and he admired that about her…and sometimes hated it, too. She lifted the sheets of their bed and crawled under the covers. He quickly followed her and found his way over so he was right next to her, whispering in her ear.

"But when we get through with this, you and I are going to have a serious talk about your ideas of adventure." He said, before giving her a kiss on the cheek. She laughed at this, but she knew that their views on this point were severely different. He grew up with the Jedi and was taught very early that such a sense of adventure was to be avoided. No delusions of fame and glory were to enter a Jedi's mind as so they suppressed such things. She had grown up for a long period of time with Mandalorians and their views were staunchly different. Glory was something that they strived for and oftentimes was the true mark of honor for them. Ben and Mady were very different, true. Perhaps that was why they made such a good team.

After hours of tossing and turning, Ben finally fell asleep and when his eyes opened again sun shone in the window through his blinds in streaks. He breathed deeply for a moment as if he had not taken a deep breath in hours and reached over behind him to wake her.

"Mady, it's morning. We should—" he was cut off as his fingers met not her soft skin or even her hair…but rather a piece of paper. He sat up and read the thing as quickly as his eyes would dart across it.

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><p><em>Ben,<em>

_ Shame on you for not knowing me better. Stay here and look after the enclave with the boys. Don't worry about me. I won't be long. I'm just going to check a few things out in the outer rim. Don't follow me. I'm taking P4, just so you know. I love you and I'll be home soon._

_~Mady_

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><p>"Damn you, Mady." He cursed quietly. After a few deep breaths he found the tiniest of smiles on his lips. Shame on him, indeed. He really <em>should <em>have known her better.

Across the galaxy, she was smiling, too. As she stepped off of her ship and onto the dusty surface of Tatooine. For some reason she never felt out of place in the dust and the dirt. In fact, quite the contrary. It was here where she felt that she blended in the best. During this trip she felt so much so that she felt quite comfortable walking around without her hood. No one would recognize her here. This wasn't even the planet's most bustling port and even if it had been, it wouldn't have been saying much. This port was called Boulder Breech and it while it was not the size of one such as Anchorhead it held a large amount of people for its size. It was also much closer to the place she really had to find and so, she found her parking space ideal.

She had to ask more people than she thought she would have to. Not a whole lot of people knew where the historic site was anymore and those who did no longer really cared. It had been so long since the ancient age of rebellion and legends. Plus, the place had long since been ransacked and the odds of finding anything of value out there were slim to none. However, after a few hours of digging for directions she was finally able to get some from an elderly woman.

"He used to live out there." She had said. She told Mady that the only reason she knew was that her grandmother had taken her to see the place when it had been a museum. Now that was all no more. The galaxy, as it was, was something of a desperate place and there was no room in such desperation for nostalgia. Mady thanked the woman and began the long trek into the wilderness of the dune sea, P4 following obediently behind.

She hadn't dared park her ship out in the desert for fear that it would be buried by the time she got back to it. However, as each step seemed to take more and more effort, she found herself regretting that she had opted for the hike. Her feet dragged in the sand as she stared at the tiny locator she was using to find the place. It began to beep faster and faster until suddenly a computerized woman startled her.

"Destination reached." It said calmly. Mady was puzzled. She looked all around her, but all she could see for miles in any direction was sand and rocks. Still the thing repeated it's words and the coordinates appeared to be correct. Mady cursed to herself as she took a closer look at her surroundings.

"What's the matter, Mrs. Katarn?" P4 asked.

"There was supposed to be something here and it's not and for the last time, P4, call me Mady." Mady replied, still fiddling with the scanner. She began looking around assuming the transmitter was junk.

"What was supposed to be out here, Mady?" the droid behind her asked. She didn't reply as her eyes had caught something that made her freeze and consider perhaps that the transmitter had not been junk after all.

Upon this close examination, she noticed something she hadn't before. Just slightly to her left was a gray edge for something that looked like a part of a tube poking out of the desert. She approached the odd thing and touched it. It was made of some rough stone that was definitely not native to this area of the desert. Cautiously, she kicked some of the sand at its base away and found that this odd and foreign tube extended farther below the surface. Her foot slid more sand out of the way to find that it went further. Before she realized it, she was on her hands and knees throwing sand aside by the armful. After several minutes of making very little progress, she stood and took a few breaths.

What good was this going to do? Even if she did manage to find the right place, which there was no telling this was, what would there be to find? What clues would be found here? Her back ached and sweat poured down her face from both the exertion and the sun beating down on her. She leaned exhaustedly up against the strange tube, which now stuck about four feet out of the ground.

Suddenly and with a thunderous crack, she felt the tube give way from behind her and she fell backwards with it. Whatever had broken had created a hole somewhere deep in the sand. She knew it was true because she found herself being sucked hopelessly into something of a sinkhole. Not that anyone would have heard her, but she just barely had time to cry out before the desert swallowed her whole.

She was embarrassed and terrified at the same time. She should have brought a guide out with her or something other than just P4. That would have been the smart thing to do. Instead, she had chosen, like usual, to come out here by herself and for it she could well die a silent and mysterious death.

For a few moments she couldn't breathe. She could feel the sand moving around her and the increasing pressure on her body told her she was going deeper and deeper into the desert. After a few seconds of this, she was sure she was not going to make it out of this desert alive. After all her harrowing adventures, a fraking sinkhole would be what did her in. _Great._ She thought to herself. _Just spectacular._

Her chest began to ache and she could feel the blood begin running from her face as the pressure was becoming too much to bear. Her lungs and her brain and her very body cried out for oxygen, but she couldn't oblige any of them. How long had she been slowly sinking downward now? Twenty seconds? Thirty? A minute? She would have guessed closer to a minute from the way her body felt.

Her vision had gone black the instant she slipped beneath the sand, but even now she could feel herself slipping away. A figure appeared in her foggy sight.

"You've come to the right place, Madylyn." Said the white-haired figure before her.

"I have?" she replied, though her lips didn't move.

"Search this place. You _will_ find what you're looking for." He said.

"What am I looking for?" she asked back.

"You'll know when you find it, my dear." The old man said.

"And who are you?" she asked as she felt the figure begin to fade away.

"I have had many names, young Jedi. I was 'Ben' when I lived here." Said the voice as it faded away.

"Kenobi? Obi-wan Kenobi?" asked Mady into the abyss, but already the voice was gone and with it, she felt the insurmountable pressure on her body returned.

Then, all of a sudden, she felt no pressure at all as she tumbled into some dark and empty cavernous space. She also found to her great relief that she could breathe again which she just lay there and did for a few minutes. She coughed uncontrollably as one of her deep gasps inhaled her a lung full of ancient dust from wherever she was.

"Mrs. Katarn! Oh dear! Mrs. Katarn, do you read?" the frantic droid above her nearly shouted into the comlink.

"It's Mady, P4." She said wearily into the communicator.

"Mady, what happened? I turned for merely a moment and when I turned back you where gone!" the droid explained.

"It's fine, P4. I'm underneath you in some sort of cave. Stay put and I'll let you know if I need you." She said, calmly. In reality, she was anything but calm. Any one of a hundred desert dwelling creatures could have made this cave home and right now, she couldn't even see her hand in front of her face. Before she did anything, she needed to find a light somewhere. Odds held that there were no working lights down here, she for the time being she was stuck…until she remembered the many uses of the weapon at her hip.

Her lightsaber igniting sounded louder than it usually did due to the enclosed space which she quickly discovered was not a cave. The walls and the floor gave away the fact that someone had indeed once lived here…so did the furniture. Tipped over and battered though it was, it was furniture for a human or humanoid and it did show wear. She discovered at that moment that the transmitter that had been telling her she had reached her destination had not been wrong. Simply misleading. She was there…only she was about twenty or thirty feet above where she wanted to be.

The voice had told her she was in the right place, now all there was to do was start looking for what she needed to find. The only problem was that she had no idea what that was. The reason she was out here at all was because of the nature of her enemy. If she was to defeat an incomprehensible darkness she would need the help of a legendary Jedi. Perhaps there would be clues to be found in the dwelling of one such Knight.

For nearly an hour she overturned chairs and tables and searched through drawers and found absolutely nothing. Finally, after this utter defeat, she sat against a wall and just tried to think. Why would the voice tell her that she was in the right place unless she indeed was? Maybe this apparition had just been the fevered dream of her oxygen starved brain. She moved to scooch her feet closer to her body, but something stopped it short. Some odd jut in the floor made such a movement impossible. She cleared some sand off with her hand to find that there was an old stone marker in the floor.

She examined the thing closely as she cleared away the last of the sand. The markings on it were simple and in the middle was what looked like a human hand print. Upon deciphering the markings as best as she could, she realized that the mark in the middle wasn't a hand print, but rather a pad that one would put their hand into. Something of a keyhole with only one hand able to open it. She looked at her own hand and then back at the pad. Surely hers could not be the one intended for this security device. However, her assumption that it was meant for the previous owner of this homestead was debunked by the very size of the print. It was too small to have been meant for a man and as she began to notice the length of the fingers on the pad and the length of her own, she couldn't help but notice the similarities.

Surely the thing couldn't be for her hand. Why would it be in the dwelling of a Jedi so ancient and great? Nevertheless the resemblance of the print and her hand was uncanny. Slowly and cautiously she stretched her hand forth to place it in the mysterious grooves. As she expected, but doubted at the same time, it locked perfectly into place and the instant it did, several of the symbols surrounding the pad began to glow and the thing became a pedestal slowly rising out of the floor. Her hand shot back as if she had just burned herself and she sprang away from the eerie pillar as she watched it rise. Once the thing was about a meter out of the ground it seemed to split open and a bright light spilled from the crack along with an expulsion of gas that escaped with a hiss.

The voice had told her she would know the thing when she saw it. She did. Sitting on a peg in the opening pillar was a holocron adorned with Jedi markings. Next to it on another peg was the crystal for activating it. Carefully she removed both the crystal and the holocron and examined them. Her full power would need to be used for this. She took a deep breath in and slowly released both the odd cube and crystal into the air where they floated on the Force. The holocron opened and the crystal floated delicately inside as she focused intensely on the information surely stored within. She was set back again when a blast of the Force itself seemed to shove her to the wall. A figure then appeared, projected from the cube. It was the very face she had seen in her vision.

"If you are seeing this then you haven't much time. There is indeed an evil force coming for you and yours, Grey Warrior and when the time comes to stop it no one will hold the key but you. Your suffering has not ended and there will be challenges yet to face, but if you prevail…if you succeed, you will be revered for millennia to come. If you don't or if you choose the easy path, you may yet be a legend, but one of terror and pain and heartache. The choice will be yours…and yours alone. In a short time the evil will reveal itself to you, and you must be ready. Like this holocron…you _will_ know it when you see it. May the Force be with you, young knight. Pray you make the right choice." The Ancient Knight said. And with that, the room went dark.

"Wha—What the hell was that supposed to mean?" Mady asked out loud into the darkness. What was the evil? When was it coming? What choice should she make? The information in the holocron had not answered her questions, but rather given her more.

"Great! Just frakin' great! _You'll know it when you see it._ Why the hell can't anyone just be plain about anything? Damn it all! Tracked miles into the desert, nearly drown in dust, spend half the damn day in a dungeon! For what? _You'll know it when you see it._ Awesome. That really helps me." She ranted as she angrily gathered the holocron and crystal and slipped it into her pack. She noticed a tiny streak of light protruding from an upper wall of the half-sphere that was the tiny homestead. Apparently that blast from the holocron had done some good after all. She forced the thing the rest of the way open and crawled out onto the desert once more.

"Mady! Are you alright?" P4 asked, rambling over to her.

"I'm fine, P4." She said, brushing herself off.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked, curiously.

"Yup. And I really wish I hadn't." she said, beginning the long walk back to Boulder Breech.

* * *

><p>"How long has she been out there now?" Axol asked to himself more than anyone else.<p>

"Not even a whole day, Axol." Ben replied from his cross-legged position on the floor of the room. The sun shone in on them and the sand beneath them was warmed by it. It was here where Ben found himself most at peace.

"Well…it seems like longer than that." Axol said, slightly embarrassed. Ben smiled to himself.

"She'll be fine. The outer rim isn't exactly an exciting place." Ben told him, trying not to let Axol ruin his center.

"Well, you know her best, kid. If you think she'll be alright, I'm sure you're not wrong." Axol said.

"I'm sure, too." Ben said peeking up at Axol.

"I got a class to teach so I'm gonna get to it." Axol said on his way out.

"Alright, don't be late." Ben said. As Axol left the room, he couldn't help but think about what he had said. Ben never liked it when she went off by herself and before Axol had come in to bother him, she had been searching through the Force to try to find her. Certainly he had no plans to follow her, but it would make him feel a little bit better to know where she was, at least. When he was finally alone in the room again, he closed his eyes and got back to it.

* * *

><p>He wouldn't have been very happy to find her where she currently was. The way she saw it, she had spent a whole day trekking into the desert for nothing. In truth, it was worse than nothing. Today, she had dug herself an even deeper hole. This holocron was useless. There was no information on it which she didn't know or suspect already and all this did was confirm her fears. It also gave her no idea about how to combat the "evil" that was coming. Since this was the case, she thought it a prudent time to have a drink or two.<p>

She sat in the booth at the side of the cantina holding the holocron in front of her face and staring at it with contempt. The Force had guided her to this very thing so perhaps it wasn't totally useless. However, if it had a use it was completely unbeknownst to her. She fought the urge to just chuck the thing against a hard corner of the booth and be done with it forever. That was something she couldn't do though. The past years had given her the strength to resist such foolish and immature displays of frustration…but that didn't keep the thought from crossing her mind. She knew she had to let Ben take a look at it though. She knew she had to get it back to him.

Suddenly, as if snapping her out of this death stare with the holocron, a young alien waiter was crashed into by a clumsy patron and the entire tray of beverages he had been holding spilled down the front of him and then smashed to the floor with a thunderous shattering sound. Some of the sticky liquor had gotten on the patron as well, which is where the whole mess started.

"I'm very sorry, sir." The young alien said, nearly unable to make eye contact.

"You bet you're sorry, alien scum, and you're about to get a lot sorrier if you don't buy this whole table drinks for this mess!" the patron threatened.

"I-I don't have any money, sir." Said the waiter. This whole thing had gotten Mady's attention. She could tell the patron was human, but for the life of her she couldn't tell what the waiter was. He was humanoid to be sure and his size showed him to be quite young, but she could have been mistaken.

"Well, then I guess we'll just have to figure something else out." The man said. No sooner was that last word out of his mouth, than his fist slammed across the face of the young waiter leveling him promptly. Feeling a slight buzz and also a slight rise in anger at the men's behavior, she thought this a good time to step in. She stuffed the holocron back into her backpack and stood from the booth.

"Hey." She said standing. Apparently, none of the men heard her as she stepped towards them. They simply continued kicking the poor boy as he was down on the floor and calling him a number of slurs that she would never repeat.

"Hey!" she repeated growing closer to them. Still no response.

"HEY!" she shouted over the crowd as she grabbed one of the men by the shoulder of his shirt. Before he had even shown acknowledgement of her, she had slugged him across the face. When another man came to try an restrain her , she whirled on him and gave him a punch of his own. Just then, a third man whom she had failed to account for, adjusted to the shock of this girl barging in and socked her across the eye. The entire side of her face felt hot and began to throb. It had been a while since she had been hit like that. She had taken many a punch however and recovered quickly, returning his strike with another just as strong.

There was a moment of quiet then. Not literal quiet to be sure, but rather a calm through the force. Mady could see the galaxy at that moment and could very well see the four or five additional patrons joining the fight. Of course, she had not wanted to play such a card, but at this point, she thought it inevitable. The weapon at her hip ignited with a snap-hiss and an eerie blue glow.

"All you sand-people back off and leave this kid alone!" she said, angrily.

A few of them held their hands in the air and took a few steps away from her, creating a clearing in the bar. The waiter looked up at her, eyes showing awe. Part of the reason she could not tell was species he was, was that he was wearing a bandana covering most of his face. Something was familiar about that skin though. Something about that odd color and texture screamed that she should remember something about this race. Nevertheless, she extended him a hand.

"Come with me, kid." She said, hand outstretched. He looked at her with uncertainty.

"Unless, of course, you want to stay here." She said, shrugging her shoulders. He took a quick glance around him and seemed to choose the former. The rough skin grasped her hand and she helped him to his feet. From behind her she felt something like a wind. Of course, being inside it wasn't a real wind but one of the Force warning her of what she should have known was inevitable.

But she had been so concerned about the boy that by the time she realized the wind it was too late. The first man whom she'd hit got the drop on her and now had a weapon. With the hunting knife he'd had concealed he slashed across her shoulder, gashing deep. Uncontrollably she cried out, but the adrenaline still surged through her veins making it impossible to feel the full brunt of the wound. Angrily, she whirled around and slashed down at him with her much more deadly weapon and hacked away the entire arm. The thing fell to the floor and lay there still oddly clutching the knife. The man screamed and fell to his knees, nearly unconsciousness. She glared with fury at him.

"I told you to 'back off'." She repeated calmly. He looked up at her with fear before crumpling to the floor, passing out. She turned then toward the door.

"Make a path!" she ordered. No sooner than this was out of her mouth, it was done. Along with the alien at her back, she cautiously backed out of the bar, gathering her backpack from her booth as she went. Then with one final dash, they both sprinted out the door into the night. The angry patrons followed them surely, but when they got outside, they were met with only night air and the occasional eddy of sand in the streets.

They hunched in a side alley protected by the shadows and watched the mob shuffle back into the bar. Both of them exhaled deeply a sigh of relief.

"Alright, kid. They're gone." She said, as she began to walk down the street toward the docking bay.

"Wait…where are you going?" the boy said, following her.

"I'm going back to my ship. What does it look like?" she replied without turning around. Her shoulder was beginning to ache and she rubbed it tenderly.

"What…what about me?" the waiter asked.

"What about you?" she asked, turning back to him, holding her shoulder.

"You're a Jedi, right? You just gonna leave me here?" he asked.

"Why not? You're a Vong, right?" she asked.

"I think you mean Yuuzhan Vong." He said, sounding slightly offended.

"No, I meant Vong. A disgraced one...an exiled one. There has to be some reason you were waiting tables in a low-life cantina on Tatooine." She said. The alien sighed and looked at his feet. She was right about him. He was no longer a Yuuzhan Vong, but rather just Vong. A shamed being. For his shame, he couldn't speak for a moment. She only stared.

"You're hurt." He said, finally, seeming eager to change the subject.

"I'm fine." She replied, knowing full well she could do with some medical help.

"No, you're not. Let me patch you up at least." He offered. She sighed. She didn't want to accept charity from this kid. She didn't want to know him. All she wanted to do was get on her ship and get back to Dantooine. However, as the pain in her shoulder became worse and the blood wetted the back of her shirt, she knew that this was in her best interest. Still, her pride kept her from saying the words though. She only nodded.

"Come. I'll show you to my home." Said the Vong. He showed her to what could not even be called a house. In reality it was little more than a hold in the wall of some abandoned building. However, he had made it homey enough and showed her over to where he had lit a fire in a modest fireplace. She sat as he hustled off to find some medical supplies.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Nik Ren Dib. You can call me Nik." He said, preparing a sterilizing agent.

"Okay, Nik. Thanks for fixing me up." She said, clutching the wound tighter as it continued to hurt worse and worse by the second.

"Thank you for helping me out in the bar. You'd be surprised how some of these people get when they've had a few too many." He said, walking back over to her.

"Not sure how surprising I'd find it. The drink can do crazy things to people." She said.

"I know that for a fact. Do something with your shirt. I need to be able to see the wound." He said. She took her outer robe and tunic off and pulled the inner tunic up and over her shoulder, giving him a clear view.

"What does it look like?" she asked.

"Ugly. What did you expect? This is gonna sting a lot." He warned. Mady prepared herself.

"Okay." She replied, trying to sound as brave as she could.

"Alright, on three. One—" he began, but without continuing to three, he rammed the wet cloth to the wound, scrubbing it back and forth quickly a few times as he did. She didn't fight him, knowing that this surprise had been for the best. A low groan escaped her and her eyes became moist. She closed them tight before enough moisture had been gathered to make tears.

"Sorry about that, but you'll thank me later. That's an anesthetic as well as an antiseptic. It'll help you do better with the stitches. So will this." He said, handing her a bottle. Upon smelling it, she recognized it to be Spice Liquor, known for triggering two possible reactions in its consumer. Numbness, hallucinations or both. Considering the Vong behind her was about ready to sew her up like a pants hem, she was more than willing to take a few deep slugs of the stuff. She took a breath then another few swigs. It didn't take long for the stuff to kick in and her brain slowed.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yeah." She said. Unfortunately, she wasn't as ready as she thought. She felt the needle dig into her flesh and felt the thread slide slowly through. It didn't hurt exactly, but it was weird enough to make her take another drink.

They sat in silence for a while as he continued to stitch the long would together. He was doing a good job with them and had done a good job preparing her for them. This surprised her given humans history with the Yuuzhan Vong. She turned back to him.

"I thought all you YVs were supposed to be ruthless killers." She said.

"Well…looks like you got the oddball." He said, continuing his intricate work. Her eyes shifted back to the fire. With that last statement, she had felt her connection with this boy. He was an exile, just like she was. He was compassionate like she was. He was also helping her…just as she had him. They were the same, whether they looked it or not.

"And just because I'm a Yuuzhan Vong doesn't mean I can't help people." He said, making a point as he tied the end of her stitches off and delicately cut off the excess thread. Mady stood and began to put her clothes back on.

"Well, just because I'm a Jedi doesn't mean I owe you anything. The way I see it, this makes up even." She said.

"Maybe. But being you being a Jedi makes me want to go with you. Maybe I can do something with my life if you take me. You've surely felt that I'm not like other Vong." He said. It was true. She had felt something as different about him. Normally, Yuuzhan Vong could not feel the Force at all. Being around them was like being around a black hole. Their presence sapped the very Force out of a being and they themselves were void of it completely. This one was different. He was not a void, but she also felt something more from him…something special.

Her choice seemed simple…yet it was one of the more difficult she had made in years.

* * *

><p><strong>So there it is FicFreaks! What should she do? Should she take this alien with her or leave him on Tatooine to rot? If she takes him where should she go? Back to Dantooine right away or somewhere else? Let me know you guys! Don't screw it up!<strong>


	3. A Fair Shake

**Alright Ficsters. The response was to take Nik along for the ride and that's what's gonna happen! Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

><p>She sighed. With all this turmoil happening around them, all they really needed was another mouth to feed and another kid to keep track of. Still, she couldn't deny her Jedi ideals. This kid was in trouble and she had the power to get him out of it…there was actually little choice in the matter when all was said and done.<p>

"Alright, kid. Pack a bag and let's get off this rock." She said.

"Thank you." He said, simply.

"Don't thank me. This is kind of what we do." She said, taking another drink of the liquor. Without another word he disappeared around a corner and into a room that she hadn't even noticed was there. No more than five minutes later, he reemerged with a pack slung over his shoulder.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"I live in the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine. We're headed there." She explained gathering her own pack.

"Are you sure they'd let me stay?" he asked. She knew why he asked this question. Given the Yuuzhan Vong's previous reputation with the Jedi, the rebellion and the New Republic, she thought that his staying _in_ a Jedi enclave would be questionable at best. The Yuuzhan Vong were a commonly brutal race who saw their gods as the only guidance and those gods often guided them to cause pain and turmoil beyond previous belief. Taking one of them in after their legacy in the galaxy and the scar they left behind would be an odd proposition. They were also devoid of the Force. Only a handful of YVs in the history of the galaxy had possessed Force affinity. That was perhaps another reason she saw promise in him.

Where there should have been a numbing silence, there was a whisper. Where there should have been total blackness, there was a spark of light. Nik was not the vacuum of the Force that he should have been and she could tell that he had no desire to be. He wasn't like the others of his race and likely grew up in a place where he was very different from those around him…just as she had been.

"Well, if they don't we'll find a place for you." She said, reassuringly. Though she could not be sure, she thought she saw a smile come to his face through the bandana he wore. He looked more human than any Yuuzhan Vong she had ever seen before. He had a head thick with black hair which he had cut into what looked like a Mandalorian military cut; short and clean. His arms were slightly smoother than any Vong she'd seen and were blatantly absent of the hundreds of grafts that covered his brethren. Perhaps, she thought, this was why he was cast out. Not being able to accept the grafting was often reason to exile one of their own. However, such a thing was almost certainly a touchy subject and she thought it best not to bring it up…at least not until they knew each other better.

They piled onto the tiny Jedi shuttle in the middle of the night and blasted away for Dantooine where Mady would certainly have quite a bit of convincing to do.

"What do you mean you're bringing him here?" Axol said on the other line.

"Just like I said. I'm bringing him back there and I need you to work on Ben. I just don't want him to be surprised." She said, into the communicator. The ship was in autopilot and it would be morning before they got to the planet. This being the case, she wandered the ship

"Kid, do you have any idea what his kind can do to us? I'm all for second chances, but they can't feel the Force like we can. I'm not even saying I have anything against him, but he can't change what he is. They siphon the Force without even trying." He said.

"He's not like the others, Axol. I can tell. He can feel the Force, I know he can. It's just a little, but it's there. And Axol…he's got no place else to go." She said, quietly glancing into the bunkroom where he slept. She could hear Axol's frustrated sigh through the comm. She knew that Axol loved her like a daughter, but he was a realist. He knew that Mady's heart had gotten her into trouble more than once and he couldn't help but feel like this would be one of those times. It hit him though that she was a grown woman and he couldn't protect her forever.

"Alright, kid. Do what you have to do. I'll work on Benny boy." He said.

"Thanks, Axol. We'll be there tomorrow morning. See you soon. Out." She replied.

"Out." Axol finished. With a sigh of her own, she dropped the communicator to her side.

"You are going to get me into so much trouble." She said at the sleeping figure in the room. Yawning herself, she found her way back to the cockpit to snag some sleep.

Seemingly just as she began to drift away, the obnoxious buzz of the range alarm alerted her to the fact that she had to switch to manual now. They were within range of Dantooine.

"Hidden Hero to Jedi Enclave. Requesting permission to land." She said into the communicator on the control panel.

"Permission granted, Hidden Hero. You are to report to Master Katarn in the Master's Hall upon landing. He's requested and audience with you." Said the unwitting knight in the control room.

"I'll bet he has." She said under her breath as she flicked a few switches and continued the landing procedure.

"Say again, Hidden Hero. I didn't read." He said.

"I said I'll see him when I set down. Hidden Hero out." She replied, switching off the comm. In her exhaustion she had completely forgotten to make a plan of what to say to Ben. She would most certainly need a game plan of some kind to convince Ben of something this…odd. For the time being, she thought it best to at least wake him up and fill him in.

As she walked toward the bunkroom, she rubbed her neck tenderly as the odd sleeping situation had left her somewhat stiff. Suddenly, though a sound made her stop altogether. As she neared the room ever more slowly and quietly, the sound of a swishing lightsaber became more and more unmistakable. Carefully, she peeked around the corner to find him running through the Shii-Cho practice motions with a yellow blade. She leaned on the doorframe and crossed her arms and he never noticed her as she watched him. A smile grew slowly on her lips. She knew there was something different about him. When he finished, she finally spoke.

"Not bad." She said prompting him to whirl around startled.

"Very clean motions. Sharp transitions, too. Your feet could use some work." She said. His eyes still showed only shock that she had caught him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.

"Because I'm not that good. I didn't want you to see it unless you had to." Nik explained, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You need to have more confidence, Nik. Hell, where's your pride?" she asked.

"I guess once you're a Vong you're not left with much of that." He said. Her eyes grew sad then. So much of what he said reminded her of herself years ago when she had walked the exile's path. Everything she had was taken from her on that day so long ago and when the Jedi had sent her away she was naked of pride and power and everything else. This kid would not feel this way for another second.

"Well, no more thoughts like that. You're somebody now. You matter. You don't have to be ashamed of who you are and you don't have to hide who you are from anyone. Not from anyone! That reminds me. Why don't you take that bandana off." She said. He took a half step back.

"I'd rather not." He said.

"Why? Are you hurt or something?" she asked.

"N-no. Nothing like that. It's just…sometimes the way…well, the way we look…it can make some people uncomfortable." Nik said. It was then that she noticed he could barely look her in the eye. She approached him and his eyes became more and more intensely focused on the floor. He even shied away slightly as if afraid of being hit. Her gaze at him was intense, but not angry or upset. If he would have been looking at her, he would have perhaps seen sympathy in her icy gaze. Too bad he was focused so on his boots.

She reached forward and put her first two fingers under his chin and gently raised his head up so he looked her in the eye. Just as gently she pulled the bandana down revealing his face. To her great lack of surprise, he looked as Yuuzhan Vong do. His nose was snub and his skin was rough. Something about the way his face was structured though, made him look more human than any Vong she had ever seen. The cheeks were not as severely slanted and creased. His eyes were not so angry and his mouth was not so sinister and animal-like.

His eyes searched her face now for some type of reaction. Some clue or hint to give him a window into what she thought of him. He expected her to cringe or show repulsion on her face, but nothing met his search, but that steely stare he had seen before the bandana came down. All this had transpired in only a few seconds, but to them both it had been a long journey.

"Not from anyone." She said, patting him on the shoulder.

"I'll try." He said, finally finding the courage to return her gaze.

"Good. Now come on. Ben hates it when people are late." She said, beginning to walk from the room.

"Who?" he asked, following her.

"Uh…Master Katarn." She replied, trying to make up for the slip. He was silent for a moment as he followed her from the ship and toward the enclave. With his newfound moxy, he decided to just ask.

"Not a whole lot of people on a first name basis with Masters. How do you know him?" Nik asked.

"He and I served on several missions together during the Great Usurp. We became friends." She replied, not wanting to let Nik in on how deep their relationship actually was. Remembering at the last instant, she put her hood up so that her identity would be hidden.

"Why do you where a hood? I thought you said you lived here." he queried.

"I do. There's not a whole lot of people who know that, however. I'd like to keep it that way." She explained.

"Ah. So if you and Master Katarn are friends then why aren't you a Master?" he asked.

"Didn't want to be." She replied simply.

"Why wouldn't you want to be?" he asked, astonished by the response. She stopped and turned to face him. He nearly ran into her as the stop was so sudden.

"Because then I couldn't spend my time in bars rescuing nosey kids." She said shooting him one last quick smile. She turned around and continued toward the Master's chambers. Obediently, he followed, cracking a smile of his own.

The grand doors of the Master's Hall opened and revealed Dantooine's Masters. She did her best not to embrace them all as friends would. The great doors closed behind them and she pulled her hood back.

"Morning boys." She said, with a grin.

"Morning Mady, how did Tatooine treat you?" Ben asked.

"Who says I was on Tatooine?" she asked, smirking at her husband. He simply pointed at something behind her. She turned to find she had tracked a trail of sand all the way into this room with her.

"Ah. Very perceptive, Master Katarn. " she said, sarcastically.

"So, kid, are you going to introduce us to your friend?" Axol asked.

"Oh yeah, sorry. Masters of Dantooine, meet Nik Ren Dib. Nik for short." She said, walking over and plopping down nonchalantly in her chair.

"It's very nice to meet you, Nik." Ben said to the boy, standing and walking over to him.

"It's nice to meet you, Master." He replied, bowing.

"Mady has informed us that you might be interested in joining up. Is this true?" Ben asked.

"It is, Master." He answered.

"I'm sure I don't have to tell you how rare it is for one of your species to be accepted into our Order." Ben stated.

"You don't, Master." Nik said, simply, lowering his eyes. It hadn't been Ben's intention to hurt the young Vong's feelings, but Mady knew him well enough to know that he had.

"And I'm sure _you_ know, Master, that he would not be the first Jedi to make something of himself having had an…unconventional upbringing." Mady offered. Ben glanced over his shoulder at her sitting in her seat, legs kicked up over the arm. She raised her eyebrows at him and he knew her point. He smiled first at his wife, then back at the Vong.

"You seem to have a fan." He said. Nik stood a little straighter at that moment and a small smile grew on his face.

"Well then, there must be a reason for it. Show me what you can do." Ben said offering Nik his lightsaber.

"Thank you, Master. I have my own." Nik replied. Ben raised an eyebrow at the boy. Never had he heard of a Vong being a Jedi, but especially had he never heard of one having his own lightsaber.

"Very well, Nik. Are you ready?" Ben asked, pulling a sensor drone from his robe pocket. Nik ignited his blade.

"Ready." Nik said. Ben tossed the thing into the air and it began to hover and gravitate around the young Vong. The Master before him, flung the little sphere into the air where it hovered and orbited the poised alien. Nik rotated his stance facing the thing wherever it went. When finally the thing fired, he was ready. Ten bolts that were barely distinguishable from each other rattled off at him and he blocked all of them expertly. As if realizing that it was beaten on this front the droid made a kamikaze jolt toward Nik. Normally these practice drones didn't do this, but Ben had been tinkering with them and thought this to be a good way to test young Jedi hopefuls. If they could deal with this surprise they could very likely handle someone pulling a blaster on them. This test ended up being one that Nik passed as his sliced the thing in half. The broken thing felt onto the floor in two halves where it rocked back and for the like a melon. He breathed deeply and stared at the two halves for a moment. Then with one last breath, he disengaged his lightsaber and strapped it back to his belt. Ben smiled politely.

"Very good, Nik." Ben said.

"Thank you, Master." Nik said.

"Nik would you mind if I confer with the other Masters in private?" Ben asked.

"Not at all, Master." Nik replied.

"Thank you. P4, would you please show Nik to his room?" Ben requested.

"Of course, Master Katarn. This way please, Nik." The droid said, leading Nik away. For the first time, Mady leaned forward as if she was nervous.

"Well?" she asked simply.

"He has a lot of anger in him." Ben said, scratching his scruffy beard.

"So did I when I first came to the Jedi." She said.

"But that was different. You were Mandalorian. You were part of something and they accepted you. This kid…this kid seems like he's been rejected his entire life. It's all he knows. He resents life itself." Ben explained.

"He does seem to respect the Jedi, though kid." Axol pointed out.

"He also seems to appreciate the chance were giving him. I could feel that he was hopeful." Jared added.

"He _is_ powerful with no training at all. With a daily regimen he could be proficient very quickly." Lakaar said.

"And maybe all that rejection is all the more reason not to turn him away. Maybe we shouldn't be like everyone else he's ever known. Maybe we should be the ones to turn things around for him." She said, walking over to him. She looked into his eyes and took his arm affectionately.

"Maybe we should be the first ones to give him a chance." She said. Ben smiled down at her and remembered the path she had taken to him. In her world there had been that one Master who gave a little Mandalorian girl a shot at being a Jedi. While her adventure had not been without its share of pain, he knew that her true path in life had been set in motion that day. Perhaps, he could be the one to pay it forward to this young and unlikely Jedi.

Then he looked at her and smiled wider. She had always had this power over him. She had always been able to convince him of things that he wasn't sure of. He had been ready to turn this Vong away…until she got to him. This was what he loved about her, but for the abrupt change of heart, he laughed.

"Do you want to go tell him?" he asked. Mady knew what she would be telling Nik although Ben hadn't actually verbalized it. To her knowledge, it would be the first time a Vong had been accepted for Jedi training. She was proud of her husband for the decision he had made.

"I do." She replied. She had just pulled her hood up and turned to leave when a young knight rushed into the room.

"Master Katarn, Master –" he was cut off by the odd sight of the Dark Guardian standing in the chamber as if nothing was amiss.

"Yes, Knight. What is it?" Ben replied.

"Master, we've received a message from Ord Cantrell. They-They've been attacked." The young man relayed.

"Attacked by what?" Jared asked.

"I am not sure, Master. Should I transfer the message?" the knight asked.

"Yes, of course. Put it on the main holopad." Ben ordered. With a few pushed buttons and turned knobs a panicked looking man appeared flickering before them.

"—Don't know how many of them there are…humans…hundreds…maybe mercenaries… Mandalori—rmor…markings…Just trying to keep them out—main chamber. Not sure how long—please help! De-Purteen! AAAHHHH!" the transmission cut in and out and finally went all to black as explosions were heard in the background.

"Knight, reverse the transmission and pause when I say." Mady ordered. He did as he was told.

"Now!" she said.

"That's the current chancellor of the sector, Dol Kentik." Jared noticed.

"If he's calling for help, it's quite likely they genuinely need it." Lakaar said.

"Knight, thank you for being so prompt with bringing me this information. You are dismissed." Ben said. The knight bowed and left the room.

"Mady, d-did you-?" Ben began.

"Yeah, I heard." She said, frustrated as she flipped her hood back. While every part of her mind wished she hadn't, she knew she had heard the frightened man in the transmission mention Mandalorians. Damn this flawed-honor driven culture of hers. Her clan had really only battled when there was a purpose or something to defend. She knew there were other clans who attacked just for the fun of it and there were disbanded clans whose lost children were the best mercenaries money could buy. No one outside the culture would understand that however. They simply saw the Jaing Head on the armor and that was the end of it. Mandalorians are all the same…bloodthirsty, warmongering, merciless, beasts. That is, except for a few. But they were so few in number they weren't even worth mention…at least, that's how the galaxy saw it.

"So what's the plan?" Axol asked.

"Well, we have to go." Mady said.

"What about Nik?" Jared asked.

"At least one of us must stay here and train him." Mady said as if it were obvious.

"Well…who should stay?" Lakaar asked.

"And who should go?" Ben added. Mady put her hand on her hips and paced the room. It was very important that Nik got the best guidance in his first weeks at the academy. That time period could make or break a kid like that. However, it was also very important that the best knights and masters be dispatched to deal with the situation on Ord Cantrell. That planet had become integral to the New Republic and even if it wasn't it was their duty to lend aid to anyone in danger. So who should go where? The options were nearly too many for Mady to comprehend. She just continued to pace the room as her decision seemed to grow more difficult by the second.

* * *

><p><strong>Alright FicFreaks! Who goes where? Let me know and help me write the next chapter of "Choices from a Dark Past: Part II"!<strong>


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